Longtime friends set up comic shop in Osage

Danial Anderson holds just a few of the many comic book titles available at DR Comics, located in the upstairs area of Ocean's Oasis Pet Store in downtown Osage. CHRYSTAL BERCHE
THE PRESS-NEWS▲

Avid comic book readers will find the latest titles available at DR Comics. CHRYSTAL BERCHE, The Press News▲

DR Comics offers a pull service for its customers on their shipments of comic books. CHRYSTAL BERCHE, The Press News▲

CHRYSTAL BERCHE
THE PRESS-NEWS

Nov 15, 2017

OSAGE | There’s a new place residents can go to find their funnies. They can go to DR Comics, located on Main Street, in downtown Osage, above Ocean’s Oasis Pet Store.

Operated by longtime friends Danial Anderson and Ryan Vest, DR Comics has more than 100 titles, with a growing comic section. In addition, the shop carries graphic novels, with plans to also add Manga titles.

“Growing up in Osage, I remember not having a whole lot to do,” Anderson said. “So, that is one of the reasons we set up in Osage, to help change that.

“We plan to have tabletop tournaments for Magic the Gathering, on Fridays,” Anderson said. “We have plans to give away promos and freebies the company gives out as prizes, once things really get rolling.

“We also have plans to have tabletop games, role-play games and eventually a date night for two-player games.”

Currently, the hours of operation, for the shop, are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with plans for games to start between 5 and 6 and run well past close, depending on player interest and availability. Anderson has plans to post sign-up sheets, where interested parties can leave their information, regarding the games they would like to play or run, in an effort to connect players with one another.

“Currently, we have enough interest to begin running Starfinder and Pathfinder games on a rotating schedule,” Anderson said. “We have space for roughly 18 people to fit around the table, on the low end, to play games once the comics are up on the walls. As we get more support and it grows, we might have to move to a bigger location.”

In addition to the current titles available, the store has also began adding Funko Pop dolls, with the ability to get exclusive dolls, ones larger department stores would not carry.

DR Comics offers a “pull” service, allowing readers to determine which comic titles they would like to receive monthly. Those issues are pulled for them first, upon arrival at the shop, and stored in a comic box until the customer picks up their comics. Only one title is needed to start a pull list, with the shop offering a 10 percent discount for individuals with 10 or more titles on their list, along with a 10 percent discount off anything else the individual should preorder, including Manga board games, character busts, apparel, Dungeons and Dragons and Starfinder materials.

“We need help from the community as to what games and time slots they’d like to see and which ones they feel would work best,” Anderson said. “We’re thinking of starting the games between five and six and running them to whenever. It doesn’t have to be us running the games, we are available to host them as well and will have pop and stuff for sale so players aren’t waiting for someone to come back from a store run just to take their turn.”

Over the years, there has been a resurgence of not only tabletop games, but the kinds of role playing games that allow individuals to interact with one another, while telling their characters story within game world, which are often times specifically tailored to the player characters by the individuals running the games. It also allows each new adventure to be unique and for the players to have different experiences, even if they have played the particular game before.

DR comics plans to carry board games in the future, along with comic accessories, collectible figures, bags, boards and short boxes. In addition, the store has access to Preview World, where those who are interested can page through the catalogue to get an idea or what is coming out and have things ordered for them.

With the multiple tables available the store would have the ability to host more than one game at a time, depending on the number of players, and currently carries comic titles for all ages, from Nickelodeon comics to The Walking Dead.

“We will start hosting magic tournaments soon,” Anderson said. “Starting with Draft, but we will also have standard, modern, and Ixalan for magic. The standard game is for the newest sets of cards in magic play, so the players have to be willing to constantly evolve. The bigger we get, the more prizes and exclusives we can offer. It would be awesome to someday even have a school sponsored game club. I hope we get the opportunity to do that.”